Muddiest Point

How do cloud computing services make any money? The charges are pretty negligible, so are there just lots of people using those services? How does anyone find out about them?

Week 10 Comments

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Week 14 Comments

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Muddiest Point

Is there any way to really prevent the security risks discussed this week? Wouldn't it be difficult to promote access and keep security tight?

Week 14 Readings

What Cloud Computing Really Means

So the cloud is the internet, and cloud computing is a way of getting online services to IT people for storage or applications or anything. This saves people from having to buy/maintain new software or more storage or anything they else they can get from cloud computing, because they are renting the use from someone else. I think. But who actually receives or pays for services? The article kept saying IT, but who does that refer to? IT departments? Or can regular people use these services too? Or are they services that computers use without people necessarily knowing about?

Explaining Cloud Computing youtube video

The British man has already answered my questions above, and I'm only a minute into the video! Apparently, anyone can use cloud computing! Individual users would use those resources to be able to access their stuff from anywhere and companies would use it to keep their costs down.

Whoa! Google Docs is cloud computing?? Who knew?? Cloud computing is kind of awesome!

The Future of Libraries

This article discusses ten things that will change the future role of the library and librarians. I wish he had gone into more of a time frame regarding this. Sure all these changes are on the horizon, but how soon will they actually occur? 10 years from now? 15? 20? more? I definitely think some of his points are going to happen sooner than others, like I'm not entirely convinced that books will ever become solely digital. I think his recommendations to librarians are valid things to keep in mind as librarians now, even if all the changes he speculates on don't happen or do. His suggestions are just part of ensuring a good experience for patrons.

Week 13 Comments

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Week 13 Readings and Muddiest Point

No Place to Hide.net

It is interesting, unsurprising, and a little frightening to see what has been put together on this site. I understand wanting to make people feel safe and increase national security, but I think Ben Franklin said it best: Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither.

TIA and data mining

The best part of this is knowing that the TIA is no longer around. I hate the idea that innocent web searches for something controversial could lead to me being profiled and watched at a distance forever. The government just should not have that much power over the public. It is not cool.

Youtube video

Has been taken down because of a copyright thing or something.

Muddiest Point

How does a library better increase communications with users? How can a library ensure that users will actually utilize Library 2.0 technologies, especially for the users who are not technologically literate?

Week 12 Comments

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Week 12 Muddiest Point

Week 11 Muddiest Point

How accessible are digital libraries to the public? How likely is an average person to use digital libraries successfully or at all?

Week 11 Comments

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Week 10 Muddiest Point

How does bag of word representation actually work? What good is it if it can't distinguish synonyms or two words with different meanings?

Assignment 6

Amy! Topia!

Week 10 Readings

Web Search Engines
part one

There's lots of internet for a search engine to search, so they have to use sooper seekrit algorithms to find relevant, reliable sites and to avoid spammy sites.

part two

There's something about indexers that also help generate and sort search results and other things that make search engines useful.

The Deep Web

Apparently, search engines miss lots of information that is buried under the surface of the internets, like the ocean. This article discusses using directed queries to searchable databases to reach the content in the Deep Web.

Current Developments and Future Trends

This article discusses how people are using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata harvesting and how they will be using it to sort and collect information and content .

Week 11 Readings

Digital Libraries: Challenges and Influential Work

I think this article discusses the origins of how some libraries created digital libraries and how those early efforts affected future internet use. I think.

I felt like this article was a little disjointed and hard to follow, even though it was so short. Although, that could be entirely contributed to the cold I have right now affecting my attention span and reading comprehension.

Dewey Meets Turing

This article touches on the partnership between librarians and computer scientists when the idea of digital libraries was first introduced. Apparently, the internet came along and ruined all their best laid plans, and time revealed irreconcilable differences between computers scientists and librarians. I guess they think different, or something. But as new language is introduced in dealing with digital libraries and information gathering, the two fields are able to understand each other a little more.

The tone of this article was kind of flippant and irreverent and fun. I enjoyed it!

Institutional Repositories

What is this article even saying?? Is it in English? Oh wait, I think it's about the importance of libraries collecting their information in digital repositories? Oh, it's about "an organizational commitment to the stewardship of ... digital materials." Which apparently also includes lesson plans and concert programs. This guy means business, when he talks about preserving and organizing information! Okay, catalog and digitize the history of an institution, make it a living organism that is always growing and changing. Got it.

Week 9 Comments

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Week 9 Readings

An Introduction to XML

So, what exactly is XML? A mark up language, okay, but do you use it to write webpages? Or open documents online?

This article is really dense, and I'm having a really hard time getting through it. The author doesn't explain what he's talking about, so this introduction requires an even more basic introduction.

A Survey of XML Standards, pt 1

I can already tell that this will be another one that is difficult to follow. My eyes start to glaze over when the articles get too technical.

Extending Your Markup

This reading makes XML a little more accessible, but I am still having a hard time grasping the concept. There's just a lot of jargon involved that I don't understand, and that no one is really taking the time to explain.

Assignment 5

Greek Women Bookshelf

Week 8 Comments

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Week 8 Readings & Week 7 Muddiest Point

HTML Tutorial

I LOVE having hands on practice with what we're reading about! This is definitely the kind of thing that helps me really learn and retain information. I already know a few super easy HTML tags from blogging, but its cool to learn a more about it and more practical uses. I also learned that the strike-through tag I've been using is no longer appropriate does it still work? I guess so, but the delete tag is better.

HTML Cheatsheet

This will definitely come in handy for our website assignment. There's not really much else to say to that. Some of the stuff I still don't really understand its purpose, but I suppose experimentation will help with that. :)

CSS Tutorial

I am really glad we've got a tutorial for this, because I am pretty sure I would not have gotten it otherwise. As it is, I'm having a bit of trouble grasping it, though the many examples is helping make sense of it. Unfortunately, this tutorial isn't as hands on as the HTML one. I wish it had all the text editing practice pages. I really like being able to see the code right next to what it would look like.

Beyond HTML

This article discusses library Content Management Systems (CMS), and how it provides more flexibility and allows librarians to add and manage content on a website without having to know HTML markups, putting the focus on what the page says rather than how it looks. A CMS also allows librarians to reuse the content, without having to create entirely new HTML or anything. A CMS can grant access to many different people to update a website and keep the same presentation standards. This is definitely helpful in maintaining a professional appearance and prevents people from getting carried away with "neat" HTML tricks, which can be extremely distracting.

The article moves on to discuss how the university in question (Georgia State) moved to a CMS and the specific technology they used. The first section is definitely the most helpful in understanding what a CMS is.

Week 7 Muddiest Point

So is Telnet just a remote connection? Is it the most up to date technology for that? Or is there something better than a technology that simulates dial up?

Comments on ohter people's blogs

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Jing assignment

Ravelry Video Tutorial

Ravelry photo tutorial!

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Muddiest Point & WK 7 Readings

Muddiest Point: What exactly is the point of being able to encode extra bibliographic information onto the chip? You still need a reader to access that information, and you can link a barcode to a record in the computer system that has all that information.

Inside the Google Machine

What a great video! I really enjoyed the peek inside Google. I think its really great how involved with charities they are and how much they obviously care about their employees. Sergey and Larry certainly made me wish I had the skills to get a job there! Also, the 20% rule is good idea. If 20% of the time, your employees are working on something they think is important or that they want to do, they are going to be more satisfied with the 80% of crap they have to do. This is the kind of company I can get behind.

Dismantling Integrated Library Systems

I am not 100% sure that I completely understood what this article was talking about, but it seems to discuss how libraries are facing a much greater demand for online services, and the technologies they are obtaining to help cope with that demand don't work with the technologies they already have in place. Which means they either have to switch everything over to new systems that are super expensive (and may not all work together either) or sort of just "make it work." Either option includes headaches and frustration. So what's the point of getting this fancy new technology that doesn't work with what you've already got? Isn't there some way to just make what you've already got a little better? Or do current library systems just not have the capabilities for handling increased online services or other things today information consumer is looking for?

How Internet Infrastructure Works

Everything is a part of a network!

POP=point of presence-where local users access large networks
NAP=network access point-connects really big networks to each other

So I guess the internet is just lots of really huge networks all connected to each other through NAPs. Internet needs routers to control traffic. A router is a lot like a traffic light or police officer directing traffic, making sure there aren't any traffic jams or accidents.

Where does all the information on the internet live? Does is all just exist on someone's server somewhere? Who numbers the ports on a server? How do you know what the numbers are?

Assignment 3

My Citeulike Library

Unfortunately, my third search choice, "graphic novels in libraries," did not return any results on Citeulike. My search found lots of articles about libraries and some articles about graphic novels, but none that really related to each other.

Week 5 Blog Comments

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Week 5 Reading Response

Wikipedia: Data Compression

Overall, this article does a pretty good job of explaining data compression, though they did lose me when the author(s) started listing off different methods with technical jargon about how they work. My biggest issue with this article was the first discussion of lossless compression. I understand what statistical redundancy is, and I see why the example of English text is useful, but the author doesn't go anywhere with it. How exactly does lossless compression use statistical redundancy?


Data Compression Basics

Finally, a technical article that is accessible to a layperson! The author really made this topic and the different methods of compression very understandable, and as someone who is not technologically savvy, I really appreciate that. My eyes did glaze over a bit when he was describe arithmetic coding. It was the only section I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, and in fact had to skip over it in order to be able to get to the rest of the article. However, this was just one small blip in an otherwise highly understandable article. I was even able to identify lossless versus lossy methods of compression before he told the reader what type it was by the end of the article!

Flickr assignment

Look at me.

Week 4 Blog Comments

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Week 4 Readings

Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative: international group to create agreement across disciplines for discovery-oriented descriptions of diverse resources in electronic environment

Dublin Core Element Set: supports cross-discipline resource discovery

DCMI is focused on semantic clarification of DCES and identification of common cross-domain qualifiers for better descriptions.

Basic definition for Dublin Core Data Model is the idea that there are resources, which can be anything with identity, that they want to describe

Some requirements:

It is very important for the language to be as precise as possible for clear understanding, and the unique definitions of the semantics used can be found in a schema. A namespace ties a specific word usage to a specific schema, so as not to create confusion regarding different meanings of the same word. The data model also needs to be able to recognize more refined word associations, like painter vs. contributor.

Unit 4 Readings

Wikipedia article: Database

A database is a structured collection of information store on a computer system. It has several models in which the information is arranged: relational, which is most used, heirarchical, and network.

In the relational model, information is presented in rows and columns, like an Excel spreadsheet. This model has three basic rules: 1. the order of the columns doesn't matter, 2. identical rows aren't allowed, 3. each row has one value for each column.

In the heirarchical model data is organized in an inverted tree, which is useful for establishing logical relationships between elements of multiple files. It is organized in parent child records, and each child has only one parent. It is good for one-to-many relationships, but isn't very flexible.

In the network model, a child can have multiple parents. It is very flexible, but pretty error prone for complex data models, one small change requires changes to many files, and its pretty time consuming. Is this model anything like a computer network, in which many computers are connected?

Databases have several different management systems:

• relational: information is represented in only one way. It follows the Information Principle
• post-relational: uses relations, but is not limited by the Information Principle
• object: tries to bring databases and applications together by making sure they use the same type of system

Introduction to Metadata: Pathways to Digital Information
Setting the Stage

Metadata is "data about data" or the "sum total of what can be said regarding any information object at any level of aggregation."

Information objects have:

• content-what the contains or is about
• context-indicates the who, what, why, where, how of an information object
• structure-formal set of associations within and among individual information objects.

Information professionals use the term metadata to describe enhanced access to information objects; its about providing intellectual and physical access to content.

The structure of metadata increased with the increased use of the internet, so with unmediated access metadata:

• certifies authenticity and degree of completeness
• establishes and documents context of content
• identifies and exploits relationships between and with information objects
• provides range of access points for lots of users
• provides information a professional could have traditionally provided.

The term metadata applies to different kinds of information in different fields. It is a very broad term, but also specialized.

Metadata doesn't have to be digital. Information professional have been using it for years and years in cataloguing materials and making them more accessible to the public.

Some new issues (ones that I could particularly identify with/understand)

• Increased accessibility
• Retention of context: it is part of metadata's job to ensure that an information object doesn't get lost off all by itself
• Preservation: how do we adapt metadata to exist independently of the places it is currently stored so we don't lose it?

WEEK 3 MUDDIEST POINT:

Regarding fragmented files: does the computer know where the different fragments of a file are and automatically jump from one piece to the next, or does the user need to know where the fragments are and manually jump to them?

Also, what is the difference between the FAT and NTFS file systems?

Lied Library @ Four Years: Technology Never Stands Still

This article discusses the opening and maintenance of a top of the line academic library. It really opened my eyes to the challenges of keeping an entire library designed for the use of thousands of people up to date and relevant. The difficulties facing those in charge of finding funding for the equipment, the licensing, and the support are enormous. Then a library could always use more computers, especially when anyone who walks into the library, whether or not they are associated with the university, can use them. One thing I thought was a nice idea was the usage of a login system for the computers, which allows librarians to track who is using the computers and how long they've been logged in. This helps to ensure that computers can be made available for the priority users, students and also direct them to any open computers within the library.

The author really illustrates the way in which technology never stops. A library that was built with the latest and best technology has had to update that technology every day since they first opened their doors.

Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy: New Components in the Curriculum for a Digital Culture

This article discusses the differences between information literacy and information technology literacy and how the two need to work together for success in the information field.

The author focuses specifically on the technological aspect and describes two ideas on learning it. One could learn the skills necessary to use technology or learn how the technology works. The author claims that the best way to approach information technology literacy is to understand how technology works, so then one could predict and prepare for new technological advances, rather than just learning new skills every time something new is released.

Many people are content to learn just the skills they need, and often claim ignorance or inability to understand technological workings. I, myself, am not technologically savvy, and I believe that I would not be capable or interested in learning how technology works. This article gives me a new perspective on technology and the importance of understanding how it works and its trends, especially if I am going to be working in a library. It would be better for librarians to be ahead of the trends and knowledgeable for their patrons who will need help utilizing new technology and creating a context for the information that will be available.

Content, Not Containers

The format of information is rapidly changing. People have become "format agnostic," in which they don't care how their information comes to them, only that it does. They are relying less on books and traditional information formats. Much information comes to a consumer from online resources. One can find anything on the internet. Content is not limited by its container.

Libraries must adapt to this unbound information and make it easily available to consumers who are more self sufficient, more demanding and more discerning. However, how discerning are they really? Many people will believe anything they read on the internet and accept it unequivocally as fact. How are librarians to sort through the fact and the fiction? How can they filter the good information from the bad or educate consumers about the difference? Is this a part of the librarian's job description?

People are not tied down in order to find information. They don't have to have books or newspapers or sit at a computer to find what they want. Many people have instant access to whatever information they desire through their phones or palm pilots. Instant access is an integral part of their lives; how can a library compete? How does a library cater to a public that has instant access to anything? With any information at the public's fingertips, what is the point of libraries?

Everything is becoming digitized, and physical media is more and more obsolete. But what about those people who enjoy the physical? What about those who want a tangible object in their hands? For some the weight of a book is comforting, and the physical object in hand is proof of its existence.

Even now, libraries have the best information, but many users are willing to settle for slightly inferior information that is delivered directly to them the instant they want it, the way they want it. Consumers are spoiled with instant everything from food to service, and they expect their information the same way. A library is too much of a nuisance to use. It is cumbersome and inconvenient. Libraries need to focus on getting information to people digitally and remotely in order to stay relevant. They need to be able to send information to someone's phone or email to them or create a podcast for it. But perhaps, their niche is in being able to provide a context for all the information floating around. They can find a way of directing a search for information towards sources that are relevant for the consumer and narrow down the huge vats of information.